Prime-time debut being taken in stride

CARDINALS AT 49ERS 7:15 p.m. Monday on ESPN, {KPIX}

Published 4:00 am, Friday, September 7, 2007

For a man who is about to play his first game on Monday night, Nate Clements was downright phlegmatic at the prospect. Come to think of it, so were rookies Patrick Willis and Joe Staley, young men who grew up watching "Monday Night Football."

Come on, guys, a little emotion, huh? Something? Anything?

The three players did not give much of themselves Friday as they readied for practice in preparation for Monday night's home opener against the Arizona Cardinals.

"I'm anxious for the season to start," Clements said impassively. "Football is here. I'm treating it like it's another game."

Oh, but it's not, not for former Buffalo Bill Clements. While he was in Buffalo from 2001-06, the Bills were not on the Monday night stage. The Bills last appeared on "Monday Night Football" in 2000, the year before he joined them.

"First one," Clements said with all the excitement of reading the back of a box of cereal. "Same approach, study, watch a lot of film."

Youngsters Willis and Staley showed a similar circumspect attitude toward their first Monday night games.

"Not for me," Willis said when asked if he was excited to be playing on Monday night in his first NFL regular season game. "Every day is a work day for me. Every day I come out to work to be the best."

The truth of the matter for Willis is he doesn't get ahead of things. He was asked about Monday on a Friday. By Monday he might be too amped up to talk coherently about Monday.

"That'll be Monday," the linebacker said. "That's still two, three days of preparing. I can't think about Monday. I live life one day at a time."

Said Nolan, "It's another game they have to prepare for and not make it bigger or smaller. I like his response. It tells me he thinks they're all important."

Staley brought a preternatural veteran's maturity with him to training camp so it isn't surprising that this rookie tackle isn't going all to pieces at the prospect of playing on Monday night.

"I'm just real excited to open the season," Staley said. "It's unique for our club to open up on Monday night and show the world what our team is all about. We're going to go in with confidence because we prepared the right way."

Staley said he could not recall watching his first Monday night game but Willis has a vivid memory of his.

That was in the early 1990s, Willis said, and the family's television service in Bruceton, Tenn., did not have cable, only channels "7, 11 and 16."

"By that time I already wanted to be a ballplayer," Willis said. "I wanted to be a professional ballplayer, whatever it might be."

By that Willis said he was not specific as to football, basketball or baseball. He achieved that dream. Playing on Monday night? Just another day for him. We'll see come Monday.

Nolan got into the spirit, however. After all, this will be his first Monday night game as a head coach and the first for the 49ers since 2003.

"It's as close to the playoffs as you can get," he said. "There are more people with sideline passes. Playing under the lights during the season is different. Guys know it gets more attention. When it's a nationally televised game, it's huge."

Briefly: Safety Dashon Goldson (elbow) is out and cornerback Donald Strickland (chest) is probable. ... Nolan said he is undecided whether to hold a brief walk-through Sunday.